


Marquee

by blindPersecutor



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, Modern
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-18
Updated: 2014-04-18
Packaged: 2018-01-19 21:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1484617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blindPersecutor/pseuds/blindPersecutor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the weekend and Levi, Erwin, and Hange finally have time to do their monthly movie night. But when the three can't decide, Erwin chooses at random for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marquee

"We all know what we're going to see, right?" A brunette, a blond, and a dark-haired man huddled together outside the theater, looking at the movie posters on display. Every so often a pair of eyes would deviate from the posters and look longingly at the warm theater. Their breath curled in front of them in the cold air as they turned to head in, rising into the evening air. The marquee shone above them, proudly bearing the names of what was showing.  
"We're seeing an action movie-"  
"Horror!"  
"Science fiction." Erwin stopped mid-step and shut his icy eyes, gloved hand ascending to his nose and tightly pinching the bridge. Honestly, he always wondered why the three went out to see movies together. If there were dissenting opinions, it always turned out a mess. They were the people closest to him, sure, but sometimes he just wished he could command them with no repercussions- Almost like he was their higher-up. Unfortunately, only his age gave him a leg up.  
"Hange, one of the horror movies here is about clowns. When we saw It, you left a quarter into the movie and stayed outside in the lobby in the arcade after telling us you had a stomachache and needed to crap. Erwin, your choices are fucked half the time. We're seeing sci-fi." The shortest member of the group pushed the door open, leaving the younger woman to keep it open for Erwin. A blast of warm (and popcorn-scented) air met them, coaxing sighs of relief from two of the trio. As soon as they were all inside Hange cupped her hands near her mouth and blew in, speaking between the attempts to warm her frigid hands.   
"Only one of them, though! Besides, those two science fiction films got terrible reviews. And so did one of the action movies." Levi shot a look towards the other man. Just like always, his gambit had been played, and now Hange was attempting hers.  
"You'd think a scientist would like science fiction," he muttered irritably under his breath. His head dipped as his hand shot into his pocket, coming out and grasping his phone. Within a few minutes, he was reading the reviews aloud for the two. With all the movie viewing they did and the disagreements they got into, they all had review sites bookmarked and ready to debunk or support the woman's ridiculous claims.

"Chains of Command... Four and a half stars. Planetary Pandemonium... One and a half stars. You were right once, shitty glasses. Crying Circus... One star. Asylum of Agony... Four and a half stars." With a click, his phone's screen went black and was stowed away once again in his coat's pocket. Erwin looked down at the two, and they immediately knew what he was going to say next.  
"Thank you, Levi. It seems one of my choices is among the best. And since I'm paying for your tickets, food and dr- Put those away right now." His friends looked up at him, clutching their wallets and showing a few dollar bills. Levi grasped two twenty dollar bills between two fingers and skewered the man with an exasperated glare. The scientist, meanwhile, had her battered wallet open- she had enough trouble fumbling with her numb hands and the tiny zipper- and displayed crinkled-up cash and a mix of dull and glimmering coins.  
“Fine- Fine,” the blond mumbled. “You two go get the popcorn and drinks and I'm going to get the tickets.” With their protests hanging in the air, he marched off to the box office.  
“He's going to choose something horrible,” Hange lamented. “Levi, isn't there a sci-fi horror movie we could convince him to watch?” Narrowed hazel eyes darted over to stare at Erwin. She could trust him with anything- secrets, important documents, reminders... But movies were serious business with her.  
“You know how headstrong that bastard is,” he muttered. “He would have probably strong-armed his way into choosing the movie anyways. Now get your damn candy so we can see what movie he picked. And you're getting your own popcorn this time. I don't want your hands in it, half the time you forget to wash them before leaving the lab.” They weaved through the crowded lobby and joined their place in line, glad most of the crowd was leaving. It wasn't long before they were placing their orders- a small and medium popcorn, an iced tea, a cup of orange soda, a root beer, and a package of sour gummy worms. By the time they were holding their food and walking over to Erwin, Hange had already torn the box of candy open and was slurping up one of the neon worms like spaghetti, elbowing Levi as he crashed his into her side, trying to get her to eat them like a normal person.  
“We're in theater seven,” Erwin said once they made their way there. He took his root beer and a straw from the younger woman and nodded his thanks, not giving them the tickets. They began their travel down the dimly-lit hallway, the two men looking at the posters adorning their walls. They finally got to the theater...  
“Erwin, you're not serious,” Levi spat. “We aren't seeing this pile of shit!”  
“I agree with Levi for once,” chimed Hange. “This was a terrible choice.” They knew who wasn't going to pick the film next time. Erwin shouldered the door open, standing underneath the sign bearing the words “THEATER SEVEN- SHOWING: SOARING ROMANCE.”  
“We couldn't agree so I picked at random,” he explained patiently. “It was fairer than just getting the tickets from mine, no matter how good the reviews were.” The short man walked in first, his expression clearly saying he wouldn't enjoy it one bit. The woman's shoulders were slumped, thoughts of how good Asylum of Agony could have been and that when it came out on DVDs or something they were coming to her apartment to watch it. Levi chose the seats after meticulous searching- too sticky. There was popcorn underneath that one. That one was just plain broken. As the lights dimmed they scrambled to the closest seats, sitting the farthest from the screen. Erwin sat between them, the bucket of warm, too-salty popcorn in his lap.  
Popcorn crunched and squeaked underneath Levi's shoes and Hange's boots, prompting a “Doesn't an employee clean after every showing?” Hange adjusted her glasses and settled in, accepting her drink from the black-haired man and poking her straw in. The orange soda tasted weird after the blue raspberry gummy worm, but although a strange taste, it wasn't unpleasant to her. They sat through the obligatory ads and screens reminding everyone of proper movie etiquette. The trio shed their jackets, passing them to the seat to the left of Erwin, who made a disgruntled noise- he just wanted to eat the popcorn, not be a jacket-tender.  
The movie opened on an airport, planes gliding into the clear blue sky and landing uneventful landings. A gorgeous pilot- Evie- was adjusting her hat and smoothing her jacket, twirling in front of the bathroom’s mirror and making sure everything was in place. The voice-over made sure the audience knew she was a pilot on her first day, eager to get to work.  
“Really? I thought she was playing dress-up like little kids do,” Erwin murmured to his friends. “Thank God the voice-over cleared that up.” His companions both gave a little snort, Levi's of derision, Hange's of laughter. The redheaded pilot headed into the plane, on the arm of her equally handsome co-pilot, who went by the name of Daniel. He went over everything in his deep, soothing voice- what to say once everyone boarded, what procedures to follow, the flight plans. She interrupted more than once to inform him that she had, in fact, learned everything and anything- her dream was to be the best, to show her father, a retired pilot and the parent she loved dearly, that she could best him and make a name for herself.  
“And then she finds love and has a crisis and wonders if she's the best, only for her beloved to assure her she is,” Hange predicted. Her comment earned a “Isn't that how it always goes?” from Levi and a “Maybe we should have done rock paper scissors” from Erwin, and a “Shush!” from the couple behind them.  
The first day went okay. Evie averted an emergency with panache, going with an unorthodox approach to the problem in the cockpit. Daniel waited until they were off the plan to grab her shoulders and yell at her, only stopping when he received a dazzling right hook from his coworker. Evie stormed off.  
“Okay, so cliché argument after the heroine does well, who wants to make a bingo game? Put evil twin, alter-ego, and drunken sex on there,” Levi muttered.  
And all of his predictions came correct. Evie and Daniel bonded wonderfully while engaging in a slap-slap-kiss relationship, even sharing in a mid-flight kiss. But then it all crumbled, as three-day relationships were wont to do in movies. One day she showed up to work cold and dismissive, arguing and making basic mistakes.  
“Hey, Levi, there's your dream girl,” Erwin chuckled. “Look, she even has the same expression as you.” She did- the eyeliner was heavy and her thinner lips pursed into a flat line, her only other expression scowling. Levi hit him.  
Evie was fired, and Daniel grew cold and distant as her bosses interrogated her and him over what had gone wrong. She kept up her rudeness.  
Weeks passed before Daniel went to a bar after a hard day, finding Evie there. They got drunk and she took him to her home, where everything came pouring out mid-makeout.  
Daniel wasn't Daniel! His real name was Mickey Evans, and he was one of the best unsung heroes- and Evie's father was his absolute hero. He had fired after a mechanical accident, resulting in a terrible crash. It was sabotage by a stewardess who looked strangely like her. The brunet's explanation was cut short once Evie silenced him with a kiss, a montage of groaning and artful closeups on their face and from above the bed following.  
“Oh my god,” Hange muttered. “I could write about dividing cells or autoimmune diseases and make it more romantic than this.” The other two agreed in a heartbeat and continued taking the piss out of the movie.  
Evie walked in and revealed it was her twin who had just left jail, Eva. She had always sabotaged her twin, wanting her to feel as bad as Eva felt, always shown up. Ruining a romance was the best thing she could do, and taking her job away was even better. Eva was the stewardess who had sabotaged him, too! The last fifteen minutes of the movie was her getting her job back and an extended montage of marriage on an airplane to Mickey, with her sister a bridesmaid in a bright orange dress, handcuffs on.  
Amid the cheering of moviegoers, three people were booing- and two of them were throwing popcorn and a lone gummy worm.  
“That was a steaming pile of shit!” Levi whispered. “Erwin, you're banned from ever choosing a movie again without us there. However, his lips were turned up in the tiniest trace of a smile and the third member of the trio was laughing her head off, throwing popcorn at the screen.  
“You two, stop that!” the elder told them frantically. He smacked Levi's hand down and outright stole the bag of popcorn from Hange. He was a second too late. Someone had alerted security and they had caught them in the midst of a few popcorn pieces flying majestically through the air, glistening with salt and fake butter.  
They were escorted out and their pictures taken, joining the “DO NOT LET THESE PEOPLE INTO THE THEATER” wall of infamy. As they shrugged their jackets on, Levi shook his head. “It was well worth being banned from the theater. That movie was terrible and should have never been green lighted.”  
“Become a bigtime executive, then, and green light my screenplay about dividing cells!” Hange said excitedly. “I think it's going to be titled “Divided, Not Apart In Heart”.” Erwin and Levi gave each other an annoyed look. Cells didn't even have hearts, unless she was going for a metaphor of two people as cells...  
“Skip the screenplay and find a new theater, that's the second one we've been banned from in five years,” Erwin commanded. It hadn't been a total loss- they had enjoyed mocking the movie and seeing how bad a height a pile of bullshit could reach. As they walked to Hange's car, they laughed and chattered. The lights and sounds and smell of the theater faded, and their breath rose into the chilly air as the marquee winked above them.


End file.
